Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to fire detection and suppression in a gas supply system, generally relating to a modular system of hoses and pipes directly linking a gas source with an oven.
Description of the Related Art
The risk of fire and explosion in a gas oven and its supply lines, and the attendant safety issues, have been addressed by a number of disclosures in the prior art, which includes methods and apparatus for automatic shut off of gas supplies, activation of fire extinguishing apparatus, and shut off of electrical power, where applicable.
However, the distribution of flammable gas leading from a supply line or storage source to an oven, generally for cooking, continues to be a concern due to ongoing occurrences of oven fires.
Failures occur as the result of a wide variety of possibilities, but often arise from either accidents originating from user error or equipment malfunction. In the case of user error, the modes of failure include, for example, operating ovens at excessive temperatures or for prolonged periods of time, and heating of unsuitable or flammable materials inside or near the oven.
Equipment malfunction can occur in a variety of ways including, for example failures and leaks from valves, couplings, and structural failures in storage vessels themselves, with the resultant gas leaks coming into contact with an ignition source. For these reasons it is important that improved methods and apparatus for detection and suppression of fires continue to be developed with the aim of reducing the frequency and severity of such incidents, in a greater variety of gas storage and supply systems.